COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Business Rates

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what consideration the Valuation Office Agency and her Department have given to the merits of moving to annual revaluations for business rates.

Phil Woolas: Ministers have not considered this issue.

Fire Services

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when she expects regional directors to be appointed for each of the regional control centres; and what the target date is for the establishment of each regional control centre company under the Fire Control Project.

Angela Smith: Each company must have its directors appointed prior to being formally incorporated by Companies House. The appointment of the company directors is for Fire and Rescue Authorities in each region.
	The Fire and Rescue Service National Framework 2006-08 set out target dates for the establishment of local authority controlled companies to operate regional control centres. These were by 1 August 2006 in the South West, East Midlands and North East; by 1 January 2007 in the West Midlands, North West and South East; and by 1 May 2007 in Yorkshire and Humberside and the East of England.

Fire Services

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when she expects the staffing model to be produced for each of the regional control centre companies; what change in job numbers she expects to result from the transition to regional control centres; and how many temporary staff are currently employed in each region.

Angela Smith: The staff numbers contained within the latest version of the business case, published on 14 June, are outlined in the following table, together with current control room staffing levels. The numbers include control room operators as well as data and gazetteer specialists and operational managers. The actual number of staff employed by each regional control centre (RCC) will be for the RCC company to determine.
	
		
			   Current FRS control rooms  2005- 06  Planned RCC numbers 
			 East Midlands 125 81 
			 East of England 147 85 
			 London 112 114 
			 North West 200 103 
			 North East 107 76 
			 South East 266 93 
			 South West 155 85 
			 West Midlands 150 91 
			 Yorks and Humb 143 86 
			 Total 1,405 814 
		
	
	All numbers are in terms of full time equivalents. For staff who are unlikely to be able to transfer to an RCC, FRAs have been encouraged to find alternative jobs, and where appropriate, to provide retraining. Costs of redeployment and retraining will be borne by the Department, within reason. The Department seeks to avoid compulsory redundancies where possible.
	The staffing model assumptions are being reviewed. The indicative staff numbers for each regional control centre resulting from this review will be made available by the end of October 2007.
	We do not have information on numbers of temporary staff employed within each region.

Fire Services

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will place the business case for the Fire Control Project in the Library.

Angela Smith: Version 1.0 of the FiReControl Project's Full Business Case was sent to Fire and Rescue Authorities on 8 June 2007. It was made available on the project's website on 11 June. A copy has been placed in the Library of the House.

Fire Services: Radio

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what progress has been made on the specification of the Firelink project; and what recent consultation she has held with relevant staff and trade unions.

Angela Smith: The specification of the Firelink project was determined in advance of the contract being awarded in March 2006, and installation of the infrastructure for Firelink has commenced. Representative bodies sit on the Firelink Stakeholder Group which last met on 29 March 2007.

Housing

Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate she has made of the number of households in the UK living in  (a) boats,  (b) caravans or camper vans,  (c) tents and  (d) makeshift accommodation; and if she will make a statement.

Meg Munn: Information is not held centrally identifying households in these categories.
	Counts of Gypsy and Traveller caravans in England are available at:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/pub/586/TablelCountofGypsyandTravellercaravansonl8January2007 Lastfivecounts_idl153586.xls
	Counts of Gypsy and Traveller caravans in Wales are available at:
	http://new.wales.gov.uk/topics/statistics/headlines/housing-2007/hdw200704111/?lang=en
	The 2001 Census identified 93,844 households in England and Wales living in a caravan or other mobile or temporary structure, in an unshared dwelling.

Non-Domestic Rates: Agriculture

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 8 May 2007,  Official Report, column 129W, on non-domestic rates: agriculture, whether she plans to review the exemption from business rates for agricultural land and agricultural buildings under Schedule 5 of the Local Government Finance Act 1988.

Phil Woolas: The exemption of agricultural land and buildings will be considered as part of the wider review of non-domestic rate reliefs and exemptions announced by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer in his Budget statement on 21 March.

Tax Rates and Bands: Agriculture

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what plans the Government has to re-rate agricultural land and buildings.

Ruth Kelly: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for the Vale of York (Miss McIntosh) on 28 June 2007,  Official Report, (PQ 137436).

Tetra: Health Hazards

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what research her Department has carried out into the potential long-term health implications of using  (a) hand-held radio schemes using the Tetra system and  (b) vehicles fitted with Tetra masts and radios.

Angela Smith: Government commissioned a comprehensive programme of research following the Advisory Group on Non-Ionising Radiation report published in July 2001. The main conclusion of this research is that Tetra technology is unlikely to present a risk to health. Imperial College is continuing with a long-term health monitoring study of police users of Tetra technology.
	The Department for Communities and Local Government is commissioning work to consider if any aspects of the introduction of Tetra in a Fire and Rescue Service environment need further consideration.

Village Halls: Conservation

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what support she plans to make available for the protection and enhancement of village halls following her recent announcement on community assets.

Phil Woolas: The independent Quirk Review of community management and ownership of public assets, published by The Department for Communities and Local Government on 15 May, was primarily concerned with removing barriers to the transfer of surplus public assets to communities.
	The majority of village halls are in fact already in the management or ownership of community-led committees, and while recognising the enormous contribution they make to the well-being of their communities, the Government believe that their primary sources of revenue support should be their users and other local funding sources.
	Continuing practical advice and help is available to village hall management committees from Village Hall Advisors employed by Rural Community Councils, which are supported through the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs' Rural Social and Community Programme.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Arts: Finance

Gordon Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many  (a) funded organisations and  (b) project to project grants will be affected by the reduction in Arts Council England forecast funding.

David Lammy: No decision has yet been taken by Arts Council England on its future lottery budgets.
	Decisions about grant in aid for Arts Council England will be taken as part of the comprehensive spending review later this year.

Gaming Machines: Orders and Regulations

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when the summary of responses to the consultation on the section 240 machine regulations under the Gambling Act 2005 will be published; and when the regulations will be laid.

Richard Caborn: The Gaming Machine (Circumstances of Use) Regulations to be made under section 240 of the Gambling Act 2005 will be laid in Parliament in August 2007. The regulatory impact assessment which will accompany the regulations will include a summary of responses to the consultation and will be published on the Department's website www.culture.gov.uk when the regulations are laid.

Licensing: Fees and Charges

Hugo Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when she plans to publish a response to the Report of the Independent Licensing Fees Review Panel; and if she will make a statement.

David Lammy: The question of fee levels and the recovery of any local authority overspend is a matter which needs to be agreed with other Government colleagues. We are currently assessing the implications of all the panel's detailed conclusions and recommendations and hope to publish a response shortly.

Olympic Games: Greater London

Jeremy Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether an 80,000 seat stadium at the Olympic Park is required in order to fulfil the London 2012 host city contract.

Richard Caborn: Yes. The commitment made to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in the London 2012 Candidate File was for the Stadium to have an 80,000 seat capacity during the games.

Tourism

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions she has had with devolved authorities on development of a single UK tourism strategy.

David Lammy: Tourism is a devolved matter. Discussions take place with all tourism partners to co-ordinate strategies. The 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games present great opportunities for all tourism bodies in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
	DCMS will also shortly publish a Tourism Strategy for the 2012 Games. The devolved Administrations of Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, and their national tourism bodies, were consulted in developing the Strategy.
	The Scottish Executive and the Welsh Assembly are also represented on the Ministerial Advisory Group which has, since early 2006, helped to shape the emerging strategic approach.

DEFENCE

Iraq: Peacekeeping Operations

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much depleted uranium ammunition has been used by British forces in  (a) Operation Telic and  (b) Operation Herrick since 2003.

Des Browne: Approximately 1.9 tonnes of depleted uranium ammunition was expended by UK forces in the early phases of Operation Telic in 2003. There has been no depleted uranium ammunition used in Operation Telic since this time. No depleted uranium ammunition has been used by UK forces in Operation Herrick since 2003.

DUCHY OF LANCASTER

Charities: Public Expenditure

Denis MacShane: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how much Government funding was allocated to third sector organisations for the delivery of public services in  (a) education and  (b) health in each year since 2005.

Hilary Armstrong: For 2005 and later years, no figures are currently available. Figures for 2004-05 are currently being compiled on expenditure by central Government Departments allocated to the third sector for the delivery of public services. These figures will be made available later this year.
	Figures for 2003-04 indicate that in education, spending allocated to the third sector for the delivery of education services by central Government Departments amounted to £221 million and that allocated by local government amounted to £1,454 million.
	Figures for 2003-04 indicate that spending on health-related activity in the third sector by central Government Departments amounted to £26 million. These figures do not include spending by the national health service. A separate estimate, produced externally for the Department of Health, suggested that in 2004-05 third sector organisations in England received around £1.1 billion from the NHS, including through trusts and PCTs, for the delivery of health care services.

Treaties: USA

Ben Wallace: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if she will place in the Library a copy of the recently announced UK-US Defence Trade Co-operation Treaty.

Hilary Armstrong: In accordance with the usual procedures, a copy of the Treaty will be published as a Command Paper and laid with an accompanying Explanatory Memorandum before both Houses of Parliament. Copies of the Command Paper will be laid in the Votes and Proceedings Office, the Vote Office and with the Clerk of the Parliaments at the House of Lords.

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

Free Nursery Places

Martin Linton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans he has to increase the entitlement of three and four-year-olds to free nursery provision.

Beverley Hughes: We remain committed to extending the free early education entitlement for three and four-year-olds. It will increase from 12 and a half to 15 hours per week for 38 weeks of the year by 2010. This increase will further improve the life chances of all children and will help parents to balance work and family life more easily. We recognise that there will be transitional issues for some providers. This is why we are rolling out the extended entitlement gradually. 20 pathfinder local authorities began delivering the extended entitlement in April 2007.

Higher Education Admissions

Andrew MacKay: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what recent assessment he has made of trends in higher education admissions; and if he will make a statement.

Bill Rammell: The latest figures published by the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) show that students from England applying for entry in 2007 are up by 6 per cent. compared to last year. They have also exceeded the large increase in 2005, meaning we are now seeing the largest ever numbers applying for higher education at this point in the application cycle. The small downturn we saw last year, which we always anticipated, has been strongly reversed this year. I am also pleased to see that there has been a slight increase in the proportion of applicants from the lower socio-economic groups. These highest-ever figures show that tuition fees are not putting students off applying to university as many predicted. The critics of the new system are being proved emphatically wrong.

Educational Achievement

David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what recent representations he has received on the influence of ethnicity and social class on educational achievement; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Knight: While no specific representations have been made to the Department, we are aware of a number of recent publications, including the report from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and the Sutton Trust's publication, which have highlighted social class influences on educational achievement.
	To improve the chances of children from disadvantaged backgrounds we are investing over £1 billion to support personalised learning, trialling one-to-one tuition for pupils in maths and English and building academies in areas of real disadvantage.

Trade Union Learning

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment he has made of the role of trade union learning representatives in promoting lifelong learning.

Phil Hope: More than 18,000 union learning representatives have been trained over the last few years. Evaluations have shown that they are very effective at promoting and encouraging training and development in the workplace, particularly among low skilled workers and those with literacy and numeracy difficulties. Union learning representatives have encouraged over 400,000 employees—150,000 employees in the last year alone—to get back into learning.

Looked-after Children

David Borrow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what measures the Government plan to take to improve the outcomes for children in care.

Alan Johnson: I refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave earlier today.

PFI Programme

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether he has made an evaluation of the private finance initiative programme for school buildings.

Jim Knight: In 2005, we commissioned Partnerships UK to review operational schools private finance initiative contracts. Overall, this review was positive with, on balance, contracts operating successfully across most of their provision.
	The review highlighted some difficulties and made recommendations, all of which were accepted and most of which had already been addressed. We continue to work with Partnerships UK and HM Treasury to ensure that private finance initiative contracts provide good service and value for money.

Building Schools for the Future

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment he has made of the effects of the Building Schools for the Future programme.

Jim Knight: Following procurement through the Official Journal of the European Union, in 2006 we placed a contract with PricewaterhouseCoopers to evaluate the impact of Building Schools for the Future investment on educational achievement and to learn early lessons to inform the development of the programme. The contract is for three years, and may be extended to support a longitudinal evaluation of the longer term impact. We aim to publish periodic reports from this evaluation.

Adult Education

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on adult education.

Phil Hope: We are spending more on adult learning than ever before, with over £3 billion in 2007-08 invested through the LSC.
	Our priority is to help low skilled adults, with 1 million more adults now with essential employability skills and more than 1.6 million having gained Skills for Life qualifications. Lord Leitch's Review recommended an ambition that the UK becomes world class in skills by 2020. We accept that ambition and will publish our response shortly.

Overseas Trained Teachers

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what estimate he has made of the number of overseas trained teachers who will not have gained qualified teacher status in England before September.

Jim Knight: This information is not collected centrally.

Child Employment

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of legislation on child employment and child performances.

Beverley Hughes: We have not carried out a recent assessment of legislation on the employment of children. The Government continue to focus at all times on how to deliver the outcomes we want to see for all our children, as expressed in our 'Every Child Matters' programme. Up-to-date Government guidance on child employment will be issued within the next year.

Adult Education: Liverpool

Louise Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment he has made of the adequacy of provision of adult education in Liverpool.

Phil Hope: We have increased investment in further education by 48 per cent. in real terms between 1997-98 and 2005-06. Spending on adult learning will continue to increase with over £3 billion in 2007-08, up 7 per cent. on 2005-06.
	Our funding priorities have been clearly set out in the Learning and Skills Council's (LSC) 'Annual Statement of Priorities—Raising our Game' for 2007-08
	(www.lsc.gov.uk/Aboutus/LSCStrategy/AnnualStatementofPriorities/).
	In Liverpool, as elsewhere in England, we are focusing public funding on helping those who need it most. This prioritises those without the basic and Level 2 skills for employment and further progression in learning while protecting provision for those with learning difficulties and disabilities as well as community learning. We will also develop new progression pathways that focus explicitly on the skills and learning needed for progression from Entry levels and Level 1 to a full Level 2 qualification. These local circumstances as well as the national priorities will be taken into account by the LSC when planning provision in consultation with local partners.
	The Department does not hold information at local or regional levels. Mark Haysom, the Learning and Skills Council's chief executive, will write to my hon. Friend with the information about adult education in Liverpool and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Library.

City Academies

David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many academy schools he expects to be opened in the next 12 months.

Jim Knight: There are currently 47 open academies. We anticipate that a further 36 academies will open in the next 12 months.

Degrees

Boris Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many and what percentage of the additional student numbers  (a) applied for and  (b) awarded were for (i) foundation degrees and (ii) honours degrees, broken down by institution in each of the last five years.

Bill Rammell: The following table shows how additional student numbers were allocated by the Higher Education Funding Council for England for the period in question, analysed by type of degree studied for. The figures are in aggregate for the sector as a whole: allocations to each institution can only be provided at disproportionate cost. Figures showing applications for ASNs could also only be provided at disproportionate cost.
	
		
			  ASN FTE and headcount taken from final ASN datasets (includes mainstream and non-mainstream ASNs) 
			   2007-08  FTE07  HEAD07  2006-07 FTE06  HEAD06  2005-06  FTE05  HEAD05  2004-05 FTE04  HEAD04  2003-04 FTE03  HEAD03 
			 FD(1) 13,239 18,255 10,763 14,502 9,763 12,817 8,469 11,730 3,598 4,795 
			 UGX(2) 12,266 15,740 8,150 9,727 4,564 5,396 7,160 8,908 9,119 12,156 
			 PGT(3) 1,377 2,236 1,547 3,000 308 374 440 653 1,040 1,429 
			 Total 26,882 36,230 20,460 27,230 14,635 18,587 16,068 21,291 13,757 18,380 
			 FD(1)( )proportion (percentage) 49 50 53 53 67 69 53 55 26 26 
			 UGX(2)( )proportion (percentage) for July 2007 46 43 40 36 31 29 45 42 66 66 
			 (1 )FD Foundation degree (2 )UGX Other undergraduate (excluding foundation degree). This includes, but is not limited to, honours degrees. (3 )PGT Postgraduate taught  Notes: Data shows FTEs and headcount student numbers awarded for (rather than in) the years in question through HEFCE's main additional student number exercises. They exclude numbers awarded separately for increases in intakes to undergraduate medicine and dentistry courses.

Education: Children In Care

Andrew Love: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps he is taking to improve the educational attainment by children in care.

Beverley Hughes: Our White Paper "Care Matters: Time for Change" sets out how we will improve the education of children in care. We are increasing support for children and young people in care across all children's services. Specific education proposals include: a £500 educational allowance for children in care at risk of falling behind at school; putting the 'designated teacher' on a statutory footing to improve the expertise in schools; appointing 'virtual school heads' to oversee their education; improving attendance and reducing exclusions; reducing mobility of school placements, particularly in the crucial years before GCSEs; and a bursary of a minimum of £2,000 for all children in care who go on to university.

Higher Education: Anti-semitism

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment he has made of universities' compliance with equality legislation, with particular reference to anti-semitism.

Bill Rammell: The Government have demonstrated their clear commitment to ensuring equality of opportunity in higher education and more broadly in British society. Universities as independent, autonomous bodies are responsible themselves for complying with legislation and fulfilling their statutory duties. Under the Race Relations Act 1976 (as amended by the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000) university governing bodies are also responsible for assessing the impact of their policies on student and staff of different racial groups.

Higher Education: Israel

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps the Government have taken to make clear its opposition to an academic boycott of Israel.

Bill Rammell: We have made our position extremely clear on this issue in recent weeks—including my recent visit to Israel, when I spoke to senior Government Ministers, academics, students and the media. We fully support academic freedom and are firmly against any academic boycotts of Israel or Israeli academics. While I appreciate the independence of the UCU, I am very disappointed that the union has decided to pass a motion which encourages its members to consider boycotting Israeli academics and education institutions. I profoundly believe this does nothing to promote the Middle East peace process, in fact the reverse.

Home Education

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans he has to ensure that all individuals involved in providing home education are qualified teachers.

Jim Knight: There are no plans to ensure that individuals providing home education are qualified teachers, as many home educators are parents teaching their own children.

Pre-school Education: Finance

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  what funding was allocated to Sure Start, child care and early years in each of the last three financial years;
	(2)  what total funding for Sure Start, child care and early years will be in each of the next three financial years;
	(3)  what representations he has received on the implications of the 2007 Comprehensive Spending Review for Sure Start, child care and early years funding.

Beverley Hughes: The funding allocated to Sure Start, child care and early years in each of the last three financial years is shown in the table.
	
		
			   £000 
			 2004-05 1,065,707 
			 2005-06 1,321,504 
			 2006-07 1,539,567 
			 So urce: DfES supply estimates 
		
	
	In addition, Government invest some £3 billion each year in the delivery of the free entitlement to nursery education for three and four-year-olds. Funding is provided to local authorities through the dedicated schools grant.
	The Department received its CSR settlement for 2008-11 in the 2007 Budget. Announcements about specific allocations will be made over the coming months.
	The Department has had many discussions with a wide range of stakeholders during preparations for and the run up to the Comprehensive Spending Review and will continue to do so as allocations are finalised.

Reading: Males

Andrew Love: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps are being taken to improve reading skills among teenage boys.

Jim Knight: Good reading skills are essential to improving chances of success for all young people. The literacy standards of all pupils have improved markedly over the past decade, but within this there remains a roughly constant gender gap: boys tend to read less than girls, and to achieve lower rates of literacy as measured by English tests.
	The Boys into Books initiative which the Government launched last month allows every state-funded secondary school with boys on roll to select 20 free books from a new list created by the School Library Association; the take-up of this offer is already approaching two-thirds of all eligible schools. The Reading Champions initiative provides a range of ideas and resources to encourage boys to read more by using the motivational power of reading role models. Both initiatives support our wider programme to promote literacy, including the planned National Year of Reading in 2008.

Schools: Capital Investment

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much has been allocated to Warrington for capital expenditure in each year since 1997.

Jim Knight: Capital allocations to Warrington, in each year since it achieved unitary status, are set out in the following table:
	
		
			   £ million 
			 1998-99 3.7 
			 1999-2000 4.7 
			 2000-01 8.7 
			 2001-02 9.0 
			 2002-03 10.0 
			 2003-04 8.8 
			 2004-05 8.0 
			 2005-06 9.8 
			 2006-07 12.1 
			 2007-08 8.2 
		
	
	The large allocation of £12.1 million in 2006-07 includes a safety valve basic need allocation of £3.7 million, for new pupil places.

Schools: Drugs

Andrew Love: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps he is taking to improve drugs education in schools.

Parmjit Dhanda: The Department's guidance, "Drugs: Guidance for Schools (DfES 2004)" outlines schools' responsibilities in this area and the issues to be covered in drug education across all of the four key stages, Ofsted tells us that the standard of drug education continues to improve.
	However, the Government will continue their fight against drugs and intend to consult later this year on proposals for a new drug strategy to be introduced from 2008. Education will be considered as a fundamental part of this wider process.

Schools: Emergencies

Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of procedures to evacuate pupils from school buildings in an emergency.

Jim Knight: We do not make such an assessment but schools must have contingency evacuation procedures in place for fire risks and we advise them to build on these for other emergencies such as floods. We also worked recently with the Cabinet Office Civil Contingencies Secretariat in the production of guidance on evacuation and shelter which includes information for schools, for whom we also maintain a website on emergency planning.

Schools: Intimidation

Andrew Love: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps are being taken to tackle homophobic bullying in schools.

Jim Knight: The Government believe there is no place for homophobic bullying in schools, and all our guidance on bullying makes this clear. Recognising that this can be a particularly difficult issue for many teachers to deal with, my Department has been working with Stonewall and Educational Action Challenging Homophobia (EACH) to prepare detailed guidance for schools on how to prevent and tackle homophobic bullying. This will be issued as part of our revised overarching guidance on bullying, "Safe to Learn: Embedding Anti-Bullying Work in Schools", which we aim to launch online in September.

Sports: Children

Shailesh Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps the Government are taking to increase levels of physical or sporting activity by children to help combat obesity.

Jim Knight: The National School Sport Strategy, jointly implemented by DCMS and DfES, is a key component of a multi-faceted, 'whole school' programme of addressing obesity. The 2005/06 school sport survey found that overall 80 per cent. of pupils participate in at least two hours of high quality PE and school sport a week. This exceeded the target of 75 per cent. for 2006 and demonstrates a considerable increase from the estimated 25 per cent. in 2002. This target for 2008 rises to 85 per cent. By 2010 the ambition is to offer all children at least four hours of sport a week.
	Furthermore, we are working with school sports partnerships to increase participation in physical activity by overweight and obese children.

Teachers: Science

Boris Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  how many biological sciences graduates who had an A in biology A level began teacher training in each of the last 10 years, broken down by class of degree;
	(2)  how many chemistry graduates who had an A at chemistry A level began teacher training in each of the last 10 years, broken down by class of degree;
	(3)  how many physics graduates who had gained an A at physics A level began teacher training in each of the last 10 years, broken down by class of degree.

Jim Knight: A level grades for post graduate trainees entering initial teacher training (ITT) are not collected centrally. Data relating to trainees first degree is collected as part of the TDA's performance profiles data.

Teenage Pregnancy

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, if he will examine the relationship between trends in teenage pregnancy rates and trends in educational attainment over the last four years; and if he will make a statement.

Beverley Hughes: holding answer 26 June 2007
	 : The likelihood of teenage pregnancy is far higher among young women with poor educational attainment. 29 per cent. of girls leaving school at 16 without qualifications will have a birth under 18, and 12 per cent. an abortion under 18, compared with 1 per cent. and 4 per cent. respectively for girls leaving school at 17 or over. This association between teenage pregnancy and low attainment is evident even after accounting for the effects of deprivation. On average, among the 20 per cent. most deprived wards in England, those with poor levels of educational attainment (less than 40 per cent. of young women achieving 5 GCSE's A-C) have under 18 conception rates twice as high as similarly deprived wards with better levels of educational attainment (more than 60 per cent. of young women achieving 5 GCSE's A-C). Consequently, the teenage pregnancy strategy focuses on raising aspirations and attainment as well as on delaying first sex and better contraception use—giving young people the motivation as well as the means to prevent early pregnancy.
	However, while there is a strong association between absolute teenage pregnancy and educational attainment rates, the association between changes in rates over time is less strong and more difficult to interpret. In large part, this is because teenage pregnancy and educational attainment rates are independently influenced by a wide range of factors. Accounting for how these factors impact on the relationship between changing teenage pregnancy and educational attainment rates is problematic as many are not captured by routinely collected statistics.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Bovine Tuberculosis

Daniel Rogerson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of whether bovine tuberculosis can be carried from farm to farm by people and animals walking across the land, with reference to the report of the Independent Scientific Group on Bovine Tuberculosis.

Ben Bradshaw: Officials have assessed these risks and consider them to be low.

Departments: Sick Leave

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what percentage of sick leave taken by staff in his Department was stress-related in each of the last three years.

Barry Gardiner: The percentage of total sick absences taken by DEFRA staff for which stress was recorded as the reason for absence was as follows:
	2005: 6.7 per cent.
	2006: 5.3 per cent.
	Information for 2004 is not available.

Floods: Kingston upon Hull

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the flood protection and water drainage infrastructure serving Kingston upon Hull and the surrounding area following the flooding that took place on 25 June.

Ian Pearson: I refer my hon. Friend to the statement given by the Secretary of State on 26 June 2007 , Official Report, column 763, in which he explained that it is too early to make a full assessment of the recent flooding but that there had been no reported structural failings of flood defences.

Packaging: Recycling

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how the packaging recovery note system is monitored.

Ben Bradshaw: The Environment Agency monitors compliance of businesses obligated under the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations via the packaging recovery note (PRN) system. All obligated businesses are required to provide the appropriate agency with a certificate of compliance for the previous year by 31 January, which confirms that a producer has complied with their recovery and recycling obligations. Copies of all PRNs acquired for that particular year should accompany the certificate of compliance.
	The Agency may also, by notice in writing, require any person with producer responsibility obligations to maintain and supply records to the Agency within a specified time.
	The Agency is required to provide a report at the end of each year, in respect of the following calendar year, setting out its proposed monitoring plan including in relation to monitoring it is required to carry out (under Regulation 31). This will include an indication of the minimum number of businesses which it proposes to monitor in the course of that year.
	The recently established National Packaging Waste Database has been developed to simplify data submission under the regulations, aid national planning and assist the enforcement agencies to identify abuses and non-compliance.

Packaging: Recycling

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs for what reason the packaging recovery note system is only applicable to companies that exceed an annual turnover of £2 million and whose packaging handling exceeds 50 tonnes per year.

Ben Bradshaw: The Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations oblige businesses in the packaging chain which have an annual turnover of more than £2 million, and which handle more than 50 tonnes of packaging a year, to recover and recycle a specified amount of packaging waste. This amount is determined, in part, by the amount of packaging they handle. The packaging recovery note (PRN) system was established as the mechanism for businesses to provide evidence of compliance with these regulations.
	Businesses with a lower annual turnover, or handling a lower tonnage of packaging, were excluded from the obligation in order to lessen the regulatory burden on small businesses.

VALPAK

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  whether his Department monitors how VALPAK uses its licence fee income from the use of the Green Dot trademark;
	(2)  for what reasons the decision was taken to authorise VALPAK to charge a licence fee for the use of the Green Dot trademark;
	(3)  how his Department monitors the use of the Green Dot trademark to ensure that products bearing the trademark uphold the environmental obligations associated with the logo.

Ben Bradshaw: Currently, the Green Dot Licensing Company (a subsidiary of Valpak) is vested with the task of managing the Green Dot trademark in the UK. The Green Dot Licensing Company administers Green Dot licences in the UK on behalf of the licence-holder, Pro-Europe, and this decision was made by Pro-Europe rather than the UK Government.
	Valpak, as part of the agreement with Pro-Europe, is required to manage the Green Dot registered trademark according to English trademark laws. This includes the policing of its use, granting "User Agreements"', ensuring the integrity of the mark is protected and that it is not used in a misleading fashion or in derogation of its meaning in any way.
	Valpak operates the Green Dot Licensing Company on a non-profit making basis and charges a flat licence fee. The licence fee reflects Valpak's operating costs and these will depend on the number of Green Dot users; the more users, the lower the fee. The costs are purely operating costs which will be charged back to those companies using the Green Dot logo.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Kashmir: Human Rights

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if she will support the appointment of a special rapporteur with an ongoing mandate to publish regular and public reports on the human rights situation in Jammu and Kashmir and Azad Kashmir; and if she will make a statement.

Kim Howells: The UK continues to call for an end to all external support for violence in Kashmir and an improvement in the human rights situation there. But it is not for us to intervene and prescribe a solution. That is for those parties directly involved to determine through dialogue. We hope that the dialogue process between India and Pakistan will build on progress achieved to date and, in due course, lead to the resolution of all outstanding differences between the two countries, including over Kashmir.

Kashmir: Human Rights

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations she has received on the prosecution in civilian courts in India of members of the army and other security forces implicated in rights abuses in Jammu and Kashmir; and if she will make a statement.

Kim Howells: We have not received any such representations. Criminal prosecutions before Indian courts are a domestic matter for the Government of India and the Indian judiciary.

Saudi Arabia: Terrorism

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 18 June 2007,  Official Report, columns 1481-82W, on Saudi Arabia: Terrorism, if she will list the Saudi Arabian based charities on the UN Consolidated List with respect to Al-Qaeda, Osama Bin Laden, the Taliban and other individuals, groups and entities associated with them; and if she will make a statement.

Kim Howells: The Consolidated List, established and maintained by the Security Council's UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1267 sanctions Committee and last updated on 8 June, currently lists two Saudi Arabian-based charities associated with Al-Qaeda. These are:
	The Benevolence International Foundation listed on 21 November 2002 (updated on 24 January 2004) and which is shown to have had branches in Jeddah and Riyadh in Saudi Arabia; and
	the Wafa Humanitarian Organisation listed on 6 October 2001 and shown to have a presence in Saudi Arabia.
	The list also designates various international branches of the Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation. The original Foundation, based previously in Riyadh, was dissolved by the Saudi Arabian government in June 2004 and its assets taken over by the Saudi National Commission for Relief and Charity Work Abroad. The Saudi Arabian government has said that the National Commission, described as a non-governmental body, has now assumed responsibility in the Kingdom for all private overseas aid including the distribution of Saudi private charitable donations.
	The United Kingdom is obliged to uphold UNSCR 1267 listings and to impose a corresponding assets freeze, travel ban and arms embargo. These financial sanctions are administered by the Bank of England, acting as agents for HM Treasury.

HEALTH

Care Homes: Nutrition

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans she has to improve standards of nutrition and hydration of residents in care homes.

Ivan Lewis: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Eddisbury (Mr. O'Brien) on 14 June 2007,  Official Report, columns 1306-07W.

Care Homes: Standards

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what factors were taken into account in deciding not to proceed with the review of the national minimum standards for care homes.

Ivan Lewis: The Department has decided to refocus the work that has already been carried out on the review of the national minimum standards, and to build on this, as part of the wider reform of health and adult social care regulation, to ensure there is an effective and integrated regulatory system.
	The decision to integrate the review into the regulatory reform work was based on concerns received from stakeholders about a two-stage approach to changes in the standards. It is also important to ensure that any changes in respect of adult social care will align with the new regulatory regime.

Doctors: Training

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the cost to the public purse has been arising from legal action in relation to the medical training application service, broken down by main budget heading.

Rosie Winterton: There have been no legal challenges against the medical training application service. Remedy UK Limited brought an unsuccessful legal challenge against the Department, the Postgraduate Medical Education and Training Board, the Conference of Postgraduate Medical Deans of the United Kingdom, the British Medical Association and the National Association of Clinical Tutors in relation to the changes made to specialty training recruitment as a result of the Douglas Review. The costs to the Department of this challenge are currently being assessed.

Elderly: Social Services

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Health to what extent the rate of ageing of a population is taken into account when calculating adult social care budgets; and what proportion of  (a) over 65 and  (b) over 85 years olds must be present in a population for a local authority to receive additional funding.

Ivan Lewis: Local authority funding for social services is derived from a variety of sources both from within central Government and also determined locally (via council tax, fees and charges).
	It is for individual local authorities to manage and direct their own resources in accordance with local priorities and the needs of the communities to which they are accountable.
	Central funding for adult social care is via formula grant (via Department for Communities and Local Government) which is not hypothecated and specific grants from the Department.
	Formula grant is allocated using relative needs formulae (RNF) which include a factor for the number of older people. The RNF are mathematical formulae that include information on population, social structure and other characteristics of each authority. For social care, there are separate formulae for older people (aged 65 and over) and younger adults (aged 18 to 65). The older people's formula also includes an age top-up for those aged 90 and over (as a proportion of the older people population), which takes into account the higher needs of those of very advanced age This age top-up is calculated as part of the econometric analysis carried out in an academic research project in 2005. There is, however, no set proportion of older people which leads to 'additional funding'.
	The Government (in consultation with local government) have developed separate formulae to cover the major service areas, because there are different factors influencing each service area. The funding blocks for service areas are; children's services, adults' personal services, police, fire, highway maintenance and environmental, protective and cultural services. These formulae apply to all local authorities providing particular services.
	The formula for each specific service area is built on a basic amount per client, plus additional top ups to reflect local circumstances. The top ups take account of a number of local factors that affect service costs, but the biggest factors are deprivation and area costs.
	Relative needs are designed to reflect the relative needs of individual authorities in providing services. They are not intended to measure the actual amount needed by any authority to provide local services but simply to recognise the various factors which affect local authorities' costs locally.
	The arrangements for allocating specific grants vary, some schemes use formulae grant; others allocate funds on the basis of appraisal of bids.

Health Visitors

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps she will take in response to the publication of Facing the Future, a review of the role of health visitors.

Ivan Lewis: We are considering the report's recommendations and intend to publish a response in the autumn.

Midwives: Mid-Essex Hospital Trust

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many midwives were employed by the Mid-Essex hospital trust in each of the last 10 years.

Rosie Winterton: The information is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  National health service hospital and community health services: qualified midwives in the Mid-Essex hospital services NHS trust as at 30 September for each specified year 
			  Headcount 
			   1997  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006 
			 Mid-Essex hospital services NHS trust 134 127 104 95 109 127 107 105 110 122 
			  Note: More accurate validation processes in 2006 have resulted in the identification and removal of 9,858 duplicate non-medical staff records out of the total workforce figure of 1.3 million in 2006. Earlier years' figures could not be accurately validated in this way and so will be slightly inflated. The level of inflation in earlier years' figures is estimated to be less than 1 per cent., of total across all non-medical staff groups for headcount figures (and negligible for full time equivalents). This should be taken into consideration when analysing trends over time.  Source: The Information Centre for health and social care Non-Medical Workforce Census

Midwives: Training

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many midwifery training places there were in each English region in academic year 2006-07.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 27 June 2007
	This information is shown in the table.
	
		
			  Midwifery training commission figures by region 2006-07 
			  Strategic health authorities  Degree  Diploma  18 month diploma 
			 East of England 7 166 42 
			 East Midlands 31 94 13 
			 London 0 214 174 
			 North East 60 0 24 
			 North West 169 15 65 
			 South Central 59 67 23 
			 South East Coast 89 53 47 
			 South West 99 24 15 
			 West Midlands 171 0 57 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 103 15 94 
			 Total 788 648 554 
			  Source:  NMET Q4 training commission Figures

Muscular Dystrophy: Drugs

David Burrowes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  pursuant to the answer of 11 May 2006,  Official Report, column 554W, on Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, what recent assessment has been made of progress of research into Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy administered by LGC Ltd; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of exon skipping as a potential therapy for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy;
	(3)  what plans her Department has to trial the drug Losartan for the treatment of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.

Caroline Flint: The £1.6 million, four-year programme (2005-08) of research towards a phase 1 clinical trial for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) that the Department has been supporting is administered through the company LGC Ltd. Progress is assessed through quarterly reports, and site visits by LGC Ltd. The programme started in January 2005.
	My noble Friend the Minister of State for Health (Lord Hunt) met with representatives from the DMD research team on 15 March. The MDEX Consortium research and clinical trial is progressing well, with the first patient due to receive the first dose of the experimental molecule within the next few months. According to the group's latest report of April 2007, ethical approval for the phase 1 clinical trial is in place and regulatory approvals are expected to be given soon. The clinical trial is predicted to take place through to the end of 2008.
	Research in the United States has demonstrated that Losartan may improve muscle regeneration in mice with DMD. We are not aware of any human clinical trials organised in the United Kingdom.

NHS Treatment Centres: Newcastle

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how much has been paid to Care UK for the NHS walk-in centre at Jury's Inn, Newcastle; what the reasons were for the delay in opening the centre; what costs were incurred during the delay; when the days of opening were extended to include Sundays; and what consideration is being given to an extension of opening hours after 7 p.m;
	(2)  which trust or organisation in the NHS  (a) determined the cost and service standards of the NHS walk-in centre at Jury's Inn, Newcastle and  (b) is responsible for monitoring the contract; and how long the contract with Care UK for the NHS walk-in centre has to run.

Andy Burnham: The Newcastle Central NHS walk-in centre at Jury's Inn is one of seven centres commissioned by the Department to provide health services which address the needs of the working population. Care UK is the provider under a contract that runs until 30 April 2011. The amount payable under this contract is commercially confidential. The centre opened on 17 May 2006, two weeks later than scheduled due to an issue with the electrical power source. No costs were incurred during this period. The centre is open 7 am to 7 pm, Monday to Friday and although the Department, the provider and the primary care trust are discussing options for extending opening hours, no decision has been taken.

NHS: ICT

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to her statement that the NHS IT programme is the largest civilian IT programme in the world, which non-civilian IT programmes are larger; and which civilian IT programme is nearest in size to the NHS IT programme.

Caroline Flint: Although formal research has not been conducted, we are not aware of any publicised IT programme in the world that services 1.3 million staff with what is said by suppliers to be the largest virtual private network and largest single email service that underpins the complex technology to support electronic booking, electronic prescriptions, digital imaging and an electronic care record for 50 million patients. It is not known what the second largest civilian programme would be and it would be a disproportionate cost to the taxpayer to find out. Non-civilian IT programmes tend not to publicise their details.

NHS: Management Consultants

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was spent on management consultancy contracts by the NHS in 2006-07.

Andy Burnham: The information requested is not held by the Department.

Strokes: Ethnic Groups

Mark Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans her Department has to help raise awareness of the increased risk factors for stroke in people from  (a) African Caribbean and  (b) South Asian communities.

Rosie Winterton: The Department has provided Section 64 grants to fund the following projects: The Afiya Trust's Stroke Awareness for Black and Minority Ethnic Communities project will target black and minority ethnic communities and run stroke awareness sessions within community settings.
	The Stroke Association's Blood Pressure Awareness: African Caribbean Communities project will promote a blood pressure awareness campaign within African Caribbean communities in England.
	The Stroke Association's Stroke Prevention: South Asian Communities project raised awareness of stroke prevention through the production of materials and the dissemination and distribution of these materials.
	The risk factors which increase an individual's chances of suffering a stroke include smoking, drinking alcohol, poor diet and lack of physical activity. Strokes are also more likely in those who suffer from hypertension and diabetes. Through the public health White Paper "Choosing Health" the Department has set out a programme of action to help improve the health of the public including action on smoking and diet. This builds on existing work such as campaigns on smoking and diet, National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence guidelines on the management of hypertension, points for prevention activities in the general practitioners contract and support for the Blood Pressure Association blood pressure awareness campaigns.
	The Coronary Heart Disease and Diabetes National Service Frameworks have also driven forward improvements in primary and secondary prevention of risk factors associated with circulatory disease in general. This includes better control of blood pressure and blood glucose, cholesterol management and the use of aspirin.
	The Department is also developing a new national stroke strategy for England which aims to modernise services, not just for those who have had a stroke, but also those at risk of doing so.

Strokes: Research

Mark Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps her Department is taking to encourage the participation of more  (a) hospitals and  (b) patients in stroke research studies.

Rosie Winterton: The Department's National Institute for Health Research is investing £20 million over five years in the United Kingdom Stroke Research Network set up in 2005. The Network is currently supporting 40 clinical trials and other well-designed studies conducted by public and private sector funders.
	The Stroke Research Network works closely with patients, their carers and the public to ensure involvement at all levels of its activity.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Antisocial Behaviour Orders: Chelmsford

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many antisocial behaviour orders were issued in the criminal justice system area most closely corresponding to Chelmsford in each year since the scheme commenced.

Vernon Coaker: The available information (up to 31 December 2005, latest available) is given in the table.
	
		
			  Number of antisocial behaviour orders issued at all courts in the Essex CJS area, as reported to the Home Office by the Court Service, by year, April 1999 to December 2005 
			  Essex CJS area  Number 
			 April 1999-May 2000 0 
			 June-December 2000 0 
			 2001 0 
			 2002 2 
			 2003 16 
			 2004 59 
			 2005 72 
			 Total issued 149 
			 (1) Between 1 April 1999-31 May 2000 data were collected on aggregate numbers only by police force area (pfa).  Note: Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.

Police: Road Traffic

Mark Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what resources have been allocated to police forces for traffic policing to meet the Government's road casualty reduction targets.

Tony McNulty: Government funding for police authorities is chiefly allocated using a funding formula that provides an assessment of the relative need of each police force in England and Wales.
	Funding for traffic policing is not separately identified. Decisions on the distribution of resources are matters for the Chief Officer and the Police Authority.

Speed Limits: Cameras

Mark Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment his Department has made of the impact of the Government's Safety Camera initiative on the numbers of police officers employed on speed enforcement duties in those areas where it has been implemented; and if he will make a statement.

Vernon Coaker: We would expect the effective use of automatic, unattended speed cameras to improve law enforcement by deterring more drivers from exceeding the legal speed limit and detecting more who do, It will at the same time free up police resources for other duties. These would include roads policing duties, such as active speed limit enforcement by officers on the ground. How resources are deployed is however an operational matter for individual chief officers of police.

HOUSE OF COMMONS COMMISSION

Art Works

Norman Baker: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission, what the Works of Art Committee acquisition budget is for 2007-08.

Nick Harvey: The total income of the acquisition budget for 2007-08 is £188,124.68. This is made up of the vote for the financial year of £72,500, plus a carry-over from the previous financial year of £115,624.68. The carry-over arose from underspend in 2003-04 and 2004-05, when few works of art became available which fitted the Committee's acquisition aims. A large proportion of it has already been committed to projects begun in the last financial year, including purchases made at the auction of the collection of the late Lord Stratford and portrait commissions.

Lifts

David Laws: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission, what plans are being made to repair the lifts in 1 Parliament Street; and how often all of these lifts have been working simultaneously over the last two years.

Nick Harvey: The refurbishment of the suite of three lifts in 1 Parliament Street is being undertaken as a two year programme to ensure that at least one of the lifts is always available. In the first year (2006) one of the lifts was repaired and provisional wiring for the other two took place. During this summer recess the other two lift cars and doors will be renewed and at the end of the recess all three lifts will be in full service.
	Other than during the summer recess, all three lifts have been in normal operation except between February and April. During that period, one lift at a time was taken out of operation to improve the controls which enable them to work together. This task was due to be done in the summer recess 2007 but was brought forward in view of complaints from Members. Since April there have been other breakdowns which on one occasion put two of three lifts out of action for one Tuesday afternoon and overnight before they were repaired.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

International Assistance

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent progress has been made in meeting the millennium goals.

Douglas Alexander: Progress towards the millennium development goals (MDGs) is reported on officially by the UN and varies across goals and targets and across regions.
	The world is on track to meet the poverty reduction and hunger goal. The most recent official data at global level show that between 1990 and 2002, the percentage of people living on less than $1 a day in the developing world dropped from 28 to 19 per cent. However, progress across regions varies. The proportion of people in Asia living on less than $1 a day dropped by nearly a quarter of a billion over that period. In Sub-Saharan Africa, the goal is seriously off track and, although the poverty rate itself did not increase, the number of people living in extreme poverty increased by 140 million.
	Progress towards the other seven millennium development goals (MDGs) goals also varies. For example, reducing child mortality is on track in Latin America, South East Asia and North Africa, and slightly off track in most other regions. There is less progress towards goal 6 (combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases): this goal is seriously off track for at least one of its composing targets in most regions (including Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, Oceania and the Commonwealth of Independent States both in Europe and Asia). Progress towards environmental sustainability is mixed, with most regions off track for some targets and on track for others.
	On current rates of progress, Sub-Saharan Africa will not meet any of the goals by 2015. The UK has placed Africa at the forefront of our campaign for more and better aid. Out of the 25 key countries on which DFID focuses its work, 16 are in Africa. The 2006 White Paper sets out DFID's future work on governance, basic services, climate change, the international system, and fragile states, which will all help make further progress towards meeting the MDGs.
	The 2006 UN Millennium Development Goals Report, which can be found on http://unstats.un.org/unsd/mdg/default.aspx, gives a comprehensive account of progress to date on each of the goals, and how great an effort remains necessary if they are to be met. The report is about to be updated by the UN this summer.
	DFID's 2007 annual report "Development on the Record", which was recently published includes an annex on progress towards all goals including UK progress towards MDG 8. A copy of the report is available in the Library of the House.

International Assistance: Group of Eight

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development pursuant to the answer of 22 May 2007,  Official Report, column 1251W, on international assistance: Group of Eight, if he will break down the figures on  (a) total overseas development assistance and  (b) debt relief as a proportion of gross national income by G8 member country.

Douglas Alexander: The following table gives a breakdown of total Official Development Assistance (ODA) and debt relief, as a proportion of total Gross National Income (GNI) in 2006 for each of the G7 countries using current prices (as opposed to 2004 prices in the previous answer). Russia is not a member of the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, therefore any aid from Russia is not included in the official DAC statistics on ODA.
	
		
			  G7 countries: net ODA in 2006 (preliminary data) 
			   ODA US$ million current  ODA/GNI percentage  Debt relief US$ million current  Debt relief/GNI percentage 
			 Canada 3,713 0.30 245 0.020 
			 France 10,448 0.47 3,543 0.159 
			 Germany 10,351 0.36 2,722 0.095 
			 Italy 3,672 0.20 1,604 0.087 
			 Japan 11,608 0.25 3,128 0.067 
			 United Kingdom 12,607 0.52 3,476 0.143 
			 United States 22,739 0.17 1,575 0.012 
			  
			 G7 countries 75,138 0.30 16,293 0.065 
			  Source: Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, 2007

Palestinians: Overseas Aid

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what plans his Department has for the provision of aid to the people of Gaza.

Douglas Alexander: On 19 June my right hon. Friend the Member for Leeds, Central (Hilary Benn), the former Secretary of State for International Development, announced a contribution of £1 million to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) for immediate humanitarian needs in Gaza and the West Bank. ICRC has delivered medical supplies, repatriated bodies, evacuated medical cases and helped the Palestinian Red Crescent to deliver blood supplies in Gaza. It has also helped the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) to deliver food aid.
	UNRWA provides food aid to 850,000 Palestinian refugees in Gaza, along with other essential services. With ICRC, UNRWA is assisting the 250 people trapped at the Erez crossing. DFID has provided £15.6 million through UNRWA this year for its operations in Gaza and elsewhere in the Middle East.
	Through the Temporary International Mechanism (TIM), the European Union is providing fuel to ensure the continued operation of electricity, water and sanitation services in Gaza, supporting front line health services and providing allowances for Government workers, pensioners and other needy Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. DFID has provided £15 million through the TIM so far.
	The European Community (EC) is providing €9.8 million through the World Health Organisation, €6 million for UNRWA's food programme, and €9 million through the World Food Programme for the West Bank and Gaza. This is in addition to the European Community's contribution to UNRWA's core fund of €66 million this year. The UK contributes about 17 per cent. of EC assistance.
	The key humanitarian issue in Gaza at this time is access. 104 containers of UNRWA supplies await transit to Gaza through the Kami crossing. Without regular and reliable access for aid supplies and privately traded goods it will not be possible for Gaza's 1.3 million people to meet their basic needs.

Palestinians: Overseas Aid

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much financial assistance has been provided to support Palestine in each year since 1995.

Douglas Alexander: Figures for DFID support to the Palestinian people since 1995 are as follows:
	
		
			   £ 
			 2006-07 30,211,000 
			 2005-06 30,043,000 
			 2004-05 34,794,000 
			 2003-04 40,487,000 
			 2002-03 33,873,000 
			 2001-02 38,737,000 
			 2000-01 26,764,000 
			 1999-2000 20,727,000 
			 1998-99 8,516,000 
			 1997-98 16,133,000 
			 1996-97 14,288,000 
			 1995-96 10,147,000 
		
	
	These figures include contributions through the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) which supports Palestinian refugees living in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan.

JUSTICE

Chelmsford Prison

Simon Burns: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice how many prisoners are resident in Chelmsford prison.

Gerry Sutcliffe: At unlock on 25 June, the prisoner population at Chelmsford prison was 687.

Data Protection: Enforcement

Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice 
	(1)  what the maximum penalty is that the Information Commissioner can impose on a direct mailing company that is in breach of section 11 of the Data Protection Act 1998; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  how much was spent by the Information Commissioner on prosecuting direct mailers in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement.

Vera Baird: The Information Commissioner does not have the power to impose a penalty on a direct mailing company for breach of section 11 of the Data Protection Act 1998. Section 11 of the Act gives a right for an individual to give notice in writing for an organisation to cease processing their personal data for the purpose of marketing. If the organisation concerned fails to comply, the individual can seek enforcement at court. An individual can ask the Commissioner's Office to make an assessment of processing, but this does not result in punitive action. Failure to comply with an enforcement order is a criminal offence and could result in prosecution.

Departments: Wales

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice what ministerial visits have been made to prisons in Wales; and what the date of each such visit was.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The following table details the ministerial visits to prisons in Wales since 1 May 1997, according to available records. There are plans to visit Cardiff and Parc prisons in July 2007.
	
		
			  Ministerial visits to prisons in Wales since 1 May 1997 
			  Minister  Prison visited  Date 
			 Ron Davies Cardiff 6 August 1997 
			 George Howarth Usk/Prescoed 29 January 1998 
			 Alun Michael Cardiff 31 January 1998 
			 Joyce Quinn Cardiff 3 April 1998 
			 Joyce Quinn Parc(1) 3 April 1998 
			 Lord Williams of Mostyn Cardiff 26 August 1998 
			 Lord Williams of Mostyn Parc(1) 14 September 1998 
			 George Howarth Cardiff 26 January 1999 
			 Lord Williams of Mostyn Cardiff 4 June 1999 
			 Paul Boateng Parc(1) 23 September 1999 
			 Lord Rooker of Perry Vale Cardiff 17 September 2001 
			 Beverly Hughes Parc(1) 22 June 2001 
			 Paul Goggins Cardiff 17 June 2004 
			 Paul Goggins Usk/Prescoed 2 March 2005 
			 Baroness Scotland Cardiff 12 January 2006 
			 (1) Contracted prison.

Lawyers: Wales

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice how many law firms in Wales have  (a) signed and  (b) not signed new contracts with the Legal Services Commission.

Vera Baird: The Unified Contract for civil work was issued to 200 solicitors' offices in Wales. 196 contracts have been returned signed. 29 contracts were issued to not-for-profit organisations in Wales and all have been returned signed.

Peterborough Prison: Reoffenders

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice what procedures have been put in place to undertake risk assessments in respect of those prisoners released early from HMP Peterborough and the likelihood of their reoffending; and if she will make a statement.

David Hanson: The suitability of each prisoner for release under End of Custody Licence (ECL) will be assessed according to set criteria rather than individual risk assessment. All prisoners who are potentially eligible will be screened against these criteria. We will not release:
	Registered sex offenders, whether or not they are currently serving a sentence for a sexual offence;
	Prisoners serving sentences for serious violence;
	Prisoners who have previously escaped from custody;
	Prisoners who have previously breached temporary release conditions during the current sentence, have offended during a period under temporary release at any time, or prisoners currently serving a sentence for failing to return from temporary release;
	Prisoners with no accommodation arranged;
	Foreign national prisoners who will be subject to deportation at the end of their sentence;
	Prisoners who are subject to extradition proceedings;
	Sentenced prisoners who have been remanded into custody on further charges or who are awaiting sentence;
	Prisoners who, within the period of their current sentence, had been recalled either from HDC or from normal licence;
	Prisoners required to undertake a treatment programme as a condition of the normal (end of sentence) supervision licence that could not be arranged during the period of THL;
	Prisoners who are under 18 years of age.

Prison Population

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice pursuant to the statement of 19 June 2007,  Official Report, column 1241, on prison population, how many prisoners will be released from prisons in  (a) Wales and  (b) England where the prisoner's last known address was in Wales.

David Hanson: End of custody licence prisoner numbers are not broken down by area or by last known address.

Prisoners Release

Bob Neill: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice what measures will be put in place to monitor those prisoners who will be released early from prison.

David Hanson: Prisoners who are subject to supervision on release (all prisoners serving 12 months or more and prisoners under 22 years of age) will be required to meet their probation officer after release on the end of custody licence (ECL) and to have regular contact after that in line with their supervision programme.
	All prisoners released under the end of custody licence will be liable to recall if they are reported to have broken the terms of licence.

Prisoners: Foreigners

Frank Field: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice how many foreign national prisoners were imprisoned at the latest available date, broken down by  (a) European Union nationals,  (b) non-European Union nationals and  (c) other nationals; and what percentage of all prisoners are foreign nationals.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The requested information is contained in the following table.
	These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems, which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.
	
		
			  Population in prison by nationality: England and Wales: 30 April 2007 
			  Nationality  Total  Percentage 
			  Population in prison by nationality   
			 All nationalities 80,261 100 
			 UK nationals 68,124 85 
			 Foreign nationals 11,231 14 
			 Not recorded 905 1 
			  Foreign national population in prison   
			 All foreign nationals 11,231 100 
			 European Union nationals 2,441 22 
			 Non-European Union nationals 8,790 78 
			  Sources: These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems. Care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, but the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system, and so although shown to the last individual, the figure may not be accurate to that level. 
		
	
	
		
			  Foreign national population in prison by nationality England and Wales 30 April 2007 
			  Nationality  Total 
			  Total Africa 3,254 
			 Angola 84 
			 Burundi less than 50 
			 Dahomey (Benin) less than 50 
			 Botswana less than 50 
			 Ivory Coast less than 50 
			 Central African Republic less than 50 
			 Congo 111 
			 Cameroon, United Republic less than 50 
			 Cape Verde less than 50 
			 Algeria 193 
			 Egypt less than 50 
			 Ethiopia less than 50 
			 Ghana 207 
			 Gambia less than 50 
			 Guinea less than 50 
			 Equatorial Guinea less than 50 
			 Guinea/Bissau less than 50 
			 Kenya 64 
			 Liberia less than 50 
			 Libya less than 50 
			 Morocco 50 
			 Mali less than 50 
			 Mauritania less than 50 
			 Mauritius less than 50 
			 Malawi less than 50 
			 Mozambique less than 50 
			 Namibia less than 50 
			 Niger less than 50 
			 Nigeria 1,061 
			 Rwanda less than 50 
			 Seychelles less than 50 
			 Sudan less than 50 
			 Sierre Leone 97 
			 Senegal less than 50 
			 Somalia 356 
			 Swaziland less than 50 
			 Chad less than 50 
			 Togo less than 50 
			 Tunisia less than 50 
			 Tanzania less than 50 
			 Uganda 95 
			 Western Sahara less than 50 
			 South Africa 210 
			 Zambia less than 50 
			 Congo, Democratic Republic less than 50 
			 Zimbabwe 194 
			  Total Asia 1,872 
			 Bangladesh 167 
			 Burma less than 50 
			 China 312 
			 Hong Kong less than 50 
			 Indonesia less than 50 
			 India 315 
			 Japan less than 50 
			 Korea Republic of (Sth) less than 50 
			 Sri Lanka 169 
			 Mongolia less than 50 
			 Malaysia less than 50 
			 Philippines less than 50 
			 Pakistan 419 
			 Singapore less than 50 
			 Thailand less than 50 
			 East Timor (Portuguese) less than 50 
			 Taiwan (Nationalist Chinese) less than 50 
			 Vietnam 406 
			   
			  Total Central and South America 379 
			 Argentina less than 50 
			 Bolivia less than 50 
			 Brazil 92 
			 Belize less than 50 
			 Chile less than 50 
			 Columbia 124 
			 Costa Rica less than 50 
			 Ecuador less than 50 
			 French Guyana less than 50 
			 Guatemala less than 50 
			 Guyana less than 50 
			 Honduras less than 50 
			 Mexico less than 50 
			 Panama less than 50 
			 Peru less than 50 
			 Paraguay less than 50 
			 Surinam less than 50 
			 El Salvador less than 50 
			 Venezuela less than 50 
			   
			  Total Europe 3,135 
			 EU countries 2,441 
			 Austria less than 50 
			 Belgium less than 50 
			 Bulgaria less than 50 
			 Cyprus 50 
			 Czech Republic less than 50 
			 Denmark less than 50 
			 Estonia less than 50 
			 Finland less than 50 
			 France 170 
			 Germany 129 
			 Greece less than 50 
			 Hungary less than 50 
			 Irish Republic 653 
			 Italy 106 
			 Latvia less than 50 
			 Lithuania 191 
			 Malta less than 50 
			 Netherlands 132 
			 Poland 312 
			 Portugal 183 
			 Romania 150 
			 Slovakia less than 50 
			 Slovenia less than 50 
			 Spain 67 
			 Sweden less than 50 
			   
			  Non EU European countries 694 
			 Albania 148 
			 Armenia less than 50 
			 Azerbijan less than 50 
			 Bosnia-Hercegovina less than 50 
			 Croatia less than 50 
			 Switzerland less than 50 
			 Georgia less than 50 
			 Gibraltar less than 50 
			 Kazakhstan less than 50 
			 Kyrgystan less than 50 
			 Moldova less than 50 
			 Macedonia less than 50 
			 Serbia and Montenegro 94 
			 Norway less than 50 
			 San Marino less than 50 
			 Russia 113 
			 Turkey 225 
			 Uzbekistan less than 50 
			   
			  Total Middle East 669 
			 United Arab Emirates less than 50 
			 Afghanistan 95 
			 Bahrain less than 50 
			 Iran 194 
			 Israel less than 50 
			 Iraq 264 
			 Jordan less than 50 
			 Kuwait less than 50 
			 Lebanon less than 50 
			 Oman less than 50 
			 Qatar less than 50 
			 Saudi Arabia less than 50 
			 Syrian Arab Republic less than 50 
			 Yemen, Republic of less than 50 
			   
			  Total North America 130 
			 Canada less than 50 
			 United States of America 103 
			   
			  Total Oceania 51 
			 Australia less than 50 
			 Fiji less than 50 
			 French Southern Territories less than 50 
			 Kiribati less than 50 
			 New Zealand less than 50 
			 Papua New Guinea less than 50 
			   
			  Total Other 8 
			   
			  West Indies 1,733 
			 Aruba less than 50 
			 Anguilla less than 50 
			 Netherlands Antilles less than 50 
			 Barbados less than 50 
			 Bermuda less than 50 
			 Bahamas less than 50 
			 Cuba less than 50 
			 Dominica less than 50 
			 Dominican Republic less than 50 
			 Grenada less than 50 
			 Haiti less than 50 
			 Jamaica 1,464 
			 St Lucia less than 50 
			 Montserrat less than 50 
			 St Christopher & Nevis less than 50 
			 Trinidad and Tobago 91 
			 St Vincent & The Grenadines less than 50 
			  Note: For reasons of confidentiality and data integrity numbers under 50 are not shown  Sources: These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems. Care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, but the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system, and so although shown to the last individual, the figure may not be accurate to that level.

Secure Training Centres: Restraint Techniques

Sally Keeble: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice what consultations were undertaken on changes to the use of restraint in secure training centres before the laying of the Secure Training Centre (Amendment) Rules 2007 (S.I., 2007, No. 1709), dated 13 June 2007, before Parliament; and what  (a) monitoring and  (b) impact assessment she plans to undertake of the implementation of the changes.

Bridget Prentice: We consulted the Youth Justice Board and Directors of secure training centres about the proposed change. Wider consultation was not necessary or appropriate, as there is no change of the policy on the use of physical restraint. That policy is set out in section 10 of the Youth Justice Board's code of practice "Managing Children and Young People's Behaviour in the Secure Estate".
	Monitors appointed by the Youth Justice Board monitor the use of physical restraint in secure training centres and are required to submit to the Board a report of any incident in which physical restraint is used. The Board also collects statistical data on the use of physical restraint across the under-18 secure estate. In April 2007, it introduced a new system of data collection, which will provide more detailed information and allow more accurate comparisons to be made about use of restraint in the three sectors of the estate (young offender institutions, secure training centres and secure children's homes).

Secure Training Centres: Restraint Techniques

Sally Keeble: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice how many reviews the Youth Justice Board has undertaken of the use of restraint in secure training centres in the last five years.

Bridget Prentice: The Youth Justice Board has commissioned four reviews relating exclusively to methods of restraint used in secure training centres.
	These were:
	a review by David Waplington of behaviour management in secure training centres (October 2004);
	a review by medical and other experts of the safety of "Physical Control in Care" (PCC) the system of restraint approved for use in secure training centres (May 2005);
	an independent review of PCC and behaviour management in secure training centres. Conducted by Anthony Bleetman and Peter Boatman (July 2005);
	Safe and Sound, a review of the development of physical control techniques used in secure training centres. Conducted by a forum of Secure Training Centre Directors (August 2006).
	In addition, the Youth Justice Board commissioned the National Children's Bureau to report on use of physical intervention within the juvenile secure estate generally (2003).

NORTHERN IRELAND

Firearms: Registration

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many firearms certificates were  (a) held,  (b) granted and (c) extinguished in Northern Ireland in each of the last three years for which figures are available.

Paul Goggins: The Chief Constable of the Police Service for Northern Ireland has provided the information in the following table.
	
		
			   2004-05  2005-06  2006-07 
			  (a) Certificates held 76680 70983 65129 
			  (b) Certificates granted (1)n/a 13818 (2)27732 
			  (c) Certificates extinguished 1386 5083 4657 
			 (1) Figures are not available for the number of certificates granted in 2004-05.  (2) The increase in certificates granted in 2006-07 reflects a clearance of a backlog of applications.

SCOTLAND

Departments: Credit Cards

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much was spent by staff in his Department via departmental  (a) credit,  (b) procurement and  (c) fuel cards in each of the last three years.

David Cairns: The Scotland Office does not have any credit or fuel cards. The Office has one procurement card which was issued in 2006-07; nothing was spent on that card in that year.

Departments: Public Participation

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many public consultations his Department undertook in the last 12 months; and what the cost was of each consultation.

David Cairns: The Scotland Office undertook one public consultation entitled "Scottish Parliament Elections May 2007: Ballot Paper Design", this was an online consultation and the associated costs were £17,000.

Identification of Criminals

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what representations he has made to the First Minister of Scotland on the retention of DNA samples of suspected criminals; and if he will make a statement.

David Cairns: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has made no representations to the First Minister with regard to this matter.

SOLICITOR-GENERAL

Criminal Justice Pilots

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Solicitor-General what the early findings are of the Criminal Justice: Simple, Speedy, Summary pilots on speeding up prosecutions in north Northamptonshire.

The Solicitor-General: The Criminal Justice: Simple, Speedy, Summary Process was introduced in three magistrates courts in North Northamptonshire on 4 June 2007. These were Corby, Kettering and Wellingborough. The implementation was effected smoothly, but it is too soon to be able to identify any findings. The process was successfully piloted in four other sites. I have visited courts in Coventry and London recently where there is real enthusiasm about the benefits of CJSSS. It is being rolled out across the country this year.

Law Officers

Andrew MacKay: To ask the Solicitor-General if he will make a statement on the future role of the Law Officers.

Bob Neill: To ask the Solicitor-General if he will make a statement on the future role of the Law Officers.

The Solicitor-General: I refer to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Clwyd, West (Mr. Jones) today.

Human Trafficking

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Solicitor-General what steps the Crown Prosecution Service is taking to improve prosecution rates in cases of alleged human trafficking.

The Solicitor-General: The CPS is working with other Departments to implement the UK action plan on trafficking which provides for a range of actions on Prevention, Investigation, Enforcement and Prosecution. The CPS has taken the following steps:
	A Network of Human Trafficking Champions appointed in each CPS Area;
	A Senior prosecutor seconded to the UKHTC (Government's multi-agency task force to tackle organised immigration crime) to:
	provide early tactical legal advice assist in obtaining evidence from other jurisdictions;
	issued national guidance to prosecutors on how to handle trafficking prosecutions; and ensured that the victim's interests are at the heart of any prosecution as part of the Prosecutor's Pledge.

Media Reporting: Criminal Cases

Kevan Jones: To ask the Solicitor-General what his policy is on enforcement of the contempt laws on media reporting of criminal cases.

The Solicitor-General: I refer to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Stourbridge (Lynda Waltho) on 28 June 2007, but I should stress that the Law Officers will not hesitate to enforce the Contempt of Court Act 1981 where coverage of active proceedings creates a substantial risk that the course of justice in those proceedings could be, or has already been, seriously prejudiced. This extends to interference with pending criminal investigations, if there has already been an arrest.

Administration of Justice

Peter Bone: To ask the Solicitor-General what guidance his Department has issued to the Crown Prosecution Service on procedures for the reinstatement of trials which have been aborted due to technical error.

The Solicitor-General: No specific guidance has been issued to crown prosecutors on procedures for the reinstatement of trials, which have been aborted due to technical errors. Where cases are stopped because of a technical error, steps may be taken to correct the error so that the case may proceed in the usual way.
	More general guidance has been issued, which states that a decision to re-institute proceedings should only be taken when 'special circumstances' exist that demand the reinstitution of proceedings in order to maintain public confidence in the criminal justice system. If it is decided to re-institute proceedings, action is taken to bring the defendant back before the court by way of a charge or summons. This process is independent of the previous proceedings.

Antisocial Behaviour Orders: Prosecutions

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Solicitor-General how many prosecutions the Crown Prosecution Service has instigated for breaches of criminal anti-social behaviour orders since 2004.

The Solicitor-General: Crown Prosecution Service records include the number of prosecutions for breach of an antisocial behaviour order under section 1(10) of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, but do not differentiate between prosecutions relating to criminal and non-criminal orders.
	Complete records are held for the last two financial years, showing that the number of prosecutions under this legislation which reached a first hearing in magistrates courts, or were entered on indictments in the crown court, was as follows:
	
		
			   Magistrates courts  Crown court 
			 2005-06 13,436 2,110 
			 2006-07 13,475 2,406

Departments: Northern Ireland

David Lidington: To ask the Solicitor-General if he will place in the Library a copy of the concordat governing the relationship between his Department and the Northern Ireland administration.

The Solicitor-General: The Law Officer's Department does not have a concordat governing the relationship between his Department and the Northern Ireland administration.

Departments: Property

Grant Shapps: To ask the Solicitor-General how much was raised from the sale of the Law Officers' Departments departmental property in each of the last five years.

The Solicitor-General: The Law Officers' Departments' only sales of departmental property in the period were both in 2005-06: the Treasury Solicitor's Department sold Queen Anne's Chambers in Central London for £33 million; and the Crown Prosecution Service sold Winchway House in Haverfordwest for £450,000.

Departments: Property

Grant Shapps: To ask the Solicitor-General how much was received by the Law Officers' Departments from the letting of its properties in each of the last five years.

The Solicitor-General: Of the Law Officers' Departments, only the Treasury Solicitor's Department (TSol) and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) have owned properties during the period.
	Their income from letting was as follows:
	
		
			  £ 
			   2002-03  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07 
			 TSol 792,821 514,994 470,128 462,307 (1)343,357 
			 CPS 4,469,496 4,334,181 2,482,060 3,099,057 3,412,320 
			 Totals 5,262,317 4,849,175 2,952,188 3,561,364 3,755,677 
			 (1 )Forecast

Departments: Property

Grant Shapps: To ask the Solicitor-General what properties the Law Officers' Departments has  (a) owned and  (b) rented in each of the last five years.

The Solicitor-General: The Treasury Solicitor's Department owned Queen Anne's Chambers in London SW1 for the financial years spanning 2002 to 2006. It then sold it, as referred to in my reply to question 13909. They have rented 1 Kemble Street in London WC2 since 2005-06, to date. Riverside Chambers, Taunton, Somerset was leased by the Department in 1991 and is now let to various public sector tenants.
	None of the other Law Officers' Departments owns any properties. The Serious Fraud Office has rented Elm House, London WC1 throughout the period. The SFO rented fourth floor of Verulam Gardens, London WC1 from 2003-04 to 2006-07, and the fifth floor of the same building from 2004-05 to 2006-07. It rented the first and fifth floors of 200 Gray's Inn Road, London WC1 from 2005-06 to date.
	The Attorney-General's Office AGO rented 8-9 Buckingham Gate, London SW1 throughout the period, and began renting 20 Victoria Street, London SW1 towards the end of the financial year 2006-07, prior to their move its move there in May 2007.
	Her Majesty's Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate has rented numbers 26 and 28 Old Queen Street, London SW1 throughout this period.
	The Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office, since its inception in April 2005, has occupied space under a Memorandum of Terms of Occupation agreed with HM Revenue and Customs in Ralli Quays, Salford, Greater Manchester and new Kings Beam House, London SE1.
	The CPS breakdown is in the following table and a comprehensive list of the buildings has been placed in the Library.
	
		
			   Owned  Rented 
			 2002-03 4 88 
			 2003-04 4 91 
			 2004-05 4 92 
			 2005-06 4 89 
			 2006-07 3 86

Departments: Property

Grant Shapps: To ask the Solicitor-General what recent estimate has been made of the value of the Law Officers' Departments' property portfolio.

The Solicitor-General: The net book value recorded in HM Procurator General and Treasury Solicitor's departmental resource accounts for 2005-06 for freehold and leasehold land and property is nil. (This includes the Attorney General's Office and HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate.)
	, neither owns any properties).
	The most recent estimate (financial year 2006-07) that has been made for the three freehold sites in the Crown Prosecution Service's property portfolio is £6,110,823 after accumulated depreciation calculation.

Terry Lloyd

Don Foster: To ask the Solicitor-General pursuant to the answer of 13 June 2007,  Official Report, column 1047W, on Terry Lloyd, by what date he expects the Crown Prosecution Service to make a decision on the prosecution of those responsible.

The Solicitor-General: The file submitted to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has been reviewed and as a result the CPS has requested further evidence from the United States. This has been done through a formal letter submitted under the United Kingdom—United States mutual legal assistance treaty and a response is awaited to the request.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Nuclear Power Stations: Sussex

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether his Department plans to carry out a consultation in Sussex on the feasibility of locating new nuclear power stations in the county.

Malcolm Wicks: holding answer 14 June 2007
	 Any new nuclear power stations would be built by the private sector but no decisions would be taken on any potential location for a new nuclear power station pending the carrying out of a full strategic siting assessment (SSA). DTI is currently consulting on a proposed SSA process, which would be implemented if the Government confirm their preliminary view that it is in the public interest to allow energy companies the option of investing in new nuclear power stations. The proposed SSA process would include a public consultation on draft SSA criteria, and a further public consultation on a draft list of locations judged to have met this criteria.
	In advance of such an SSA being carried out, and subject to the outcome of the Government's consultation on the future of nuclear power, DTI has no plans to consult on the feasibility of locating new nuclear power stations in any particular geographical area. However, any proposed locations for new nuclear power stations emerging from an SSA would be the subject of local consultation through the planning process.

TRANSPORT

Aviation

Brian H Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the objectives are for the second stage of the EU/US aviation negotiations; and what plans he has in the eventuality of no agreement being concluded by November 2010.

Gillian Merron: European Transport Ministers have given the European Commission a mandate to secure a full transatlantic open aviation area. The UK wants to see, in particular, further liberalisation of market access, including US ownership and control rules, while further enhancing co-operation in areas such as environmental protection, security, consumer protection, and the elimination of state subsidies.
	The stage 1 agreement sets out a clear timetable for the signature of a second stage deal. We hope that it will be possible to reach an acceptable agreement within this timescale. But the EU has already agreed, in its decision on the signature of the agreement, that in the event this timetable is not met, a process will automatically be set in hand to suspend traffic rights for US air carriers.

Aviation: Noise

Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport which noise monitors in  (a) Wandsworth,  (b) South West London and  (c) West London have provided data used in noise pollution modelling as part of the Project for the Sustainable Development of Heathrow; where those noise monitors were situated; and if he will make a statement.

Gillian Merron: Modelling to estimate future aircraft noise exposure at Heathrow is being carried out using the Civil Aviation Authority's Aircraft Noise Contour Model (ANCON). The model is validated against information obtained from 10 fixed monitors under the departure tracks at Heathrow, supplemented by additional mobile noise monitors. Since 2000, monitoring has included data from mobile monitors in Fulham, Barnes, Richmond, Isleworth and Twickenham. The methodology is set out in ERCD Report 0307 and the location of fixed and mobile monitoring sites is shown in ERCD Report 0406, both of which are available on the CAA website
	www.caa.co.uk

Bridges: Downton

Robert Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether the Tannery bridge replacement project at Downton, Wiltshire is funded by his Department under the EU bridge strengthening programme; and what  (a) the original scheme cost estimate,  (b) the tender price agreed with the contractor and  (c) the current estimated out-turn cost of the project are.

Gillian Merron: The Department has not received a bid for funding to support the replacement of the Tannery bridge. This scheme is a matter for the local highway authority, Wiltshire county council.

Bus Services

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the average age is of public service buses in service in England.

Gillian Merron: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 24 January 2007,  Official Report, column 1765W.

Bus Services: Standards

Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many staff are available to each of the Traffic Commissioners to monitor the reliability of bus services in each of the English regions.

Stephen Ladyman: The Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) employs 10 staff based in England whose role includes the monitoring of bus service reliability. Their bases by traffic region are in the following table.
	
		
			   Number 
			 North Eastern and North Western 4 
			 Eastern 1 
			 South Eastern 2 
			 Western 2 
			 West Midlands 1

Bus Services: Standards

Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many and what proportion of the bus fleet received an unannounced inspection allocated on a random basis by the Traffic Commissioners in each of the last five years.

Stephen Ladyman: The Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) conducts unannounced inspections on bus fleets. It does not record the proportion of these requested by the Traffic Commissioners as opposed to other enforcement work.
	The results of spot checks by VOSA where operator based are published annually in its Effectiveness Report. This is available on-line at: www.vosa.gov.uk or in the House of Commons Library, Business and Transport Section.

Bus Services: Standards

Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many buses were inspected by VOSA officials in each of the last five years; and how many such buses were consequently subject to an  (a) immediate and  (b) delayed prohibition notice.

Stephen Ladyman: The Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) publishes statistics on bus inspections, immediate and delayed prohibition notices annually in its Effectiveness Report. This is available on-line at www.vosa.gov.uk or from the House of Commons Library, Business and Transport Section.

Bus Services: Standards

Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent estimate he has made of the distribution of responsibility for delays to bus services between  (a) congestion,  (b) mechanical failures and  (c) fleet management.

Gillian Merron: The Department does not hold data on the causes of delays to buses. However, it does collect data on the causes of scheduled mileage not run by buses. These are published in Section 2 of the quarterly bulletin "Bus and Light Rail Statistics GB", copies of which are held in the House of Commons Library.

Cycling: Helmets

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions he has had with the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents on the subject of cycle helmets.

Stephen Ladyman: None.

Cycling: Helmets

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he is taking to promote the wearing of cycle helmets by  (a) children,  (b) teenagers and  (c) the general population.

Stephen Ladyman: For children the Department has set up the "Hedgehogs" website www.hedgehogs.gov.uk and publishes "Arrive Alive" (A Highway Code for young road users).
	For teenagers the Department has set up the "Cycle Sense" safety campaign encouraging teenagers to wear helmets. The campaign consists of a series of posters, a website www.cyclesense.co.uk and a supporting TV filler film. At the end of February Think! launched a new teen road safety campaign with MTV. This will include an advertisement on cycling safety encouraging helmet wearing and will air on MTV channels week commencing 16 July.
	For adults and the general cycling population the Driving Standards Agency publishes The Highway Code which encourages all cyclists to wear a helmet.

Cycling: Helmets

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the percentage of cyclists in the UK who wear protective headgear; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Ladyman: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Orkney and Shetland (Mr. Carmichael) on 20 June 2007,  Official Report, columns 1793-94W.

Departments: Freedom of Information

Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whom he has designated as responsible for the management of inquiries under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 from  (a) hon. Members and  (b) other sources.

Gillian Merron: The Department has exactly the same arrangements and process for deciding what information is to be disclosed and what is exempt from disclosure under the FOI Act, whether the FOI request comes from an hon. Member or any other person.
	Decisions on exemptions are made by officials, except in the case of exemptions under Section 36 where a Minister is the 'qualified person' as defined by the Act. This applies irrespective of who makes the request.
	In the Department all requests for information under the FOI regime are handled by the area responsible for the subject matter.
	The responses come from different people, depending on whether the request is from an hon. Member, the media, or someone else. Responses to requests from an hon. Member are made by a Minister. In other cases, the response is made by an appropriate official. For requests from the media, the response is sent by a press officer. Where the applicant is from the legal profession, it is sent by a legal adviser. In all cases, responses are approved by the responsible member of the Senior Civil Service in the department.

Motor Vehicles: Insurance

David Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent assessment he has made of the accuracy of the Motor Insurance Database.

Stephen Ladyman: The accuracy of the Motor Insurance Database (MID) is solely the responsibility of the Insurance industry.
	The latest figures (mid June) indicate that 94.4 per cent. of all appropriate records are provided to the Motor Insurance Database (MID) within seven days. This is in line with expectations to meet the target of 95 per cent. of all appropriate records provided to the Motor Insurance Bureau within seven days by 1 January 2008.
	The police make extensive use of the MID to help identify vehicles being driven uninsured. They have had considerable success in removing uninsured vehicles from the road and although there have been occasional instances where a vehicle has been seized as a result of inaccurate data these are very rare and generally the MID is considered reliable for current enforcement purpose.

Public Transport: Gosport

Peter Viggers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans there are for improvements in access to the Gosport peninsula.

Gillian Merron: Improvements to the local transport network are the responsibility of Hampshire county council.
	Access to and within the Gosport peninsula has been considered by the council in its second Local Transport Plan. This sets out the county's transport strategy until 2011, and allocates some £4 million towards schemes to address congestion and access issues on the Gosport peninsula. These include a series of junction improvements on the A32 and B3385 corridor, as well as improvements to public transport.
	In addition the local authorities in the Solent area are working together developing transport strategies to improve access to Southampton, Portsmouth, and the wider area. With the help of Government funding they are starting work on three studies, one of which, entitled Access to South East Hampshire, sets out to identify appropriate interventions to address key bottlenecks on transport networks in and around the Gosport peninsula.

Railways

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many locomotives in use on the rail network are older than 10 years old.

Tom Harris: The following table gives details of the locomotives used by UK franchised passenger train operators, broken down by train operating company and class. Not included are vehicles operated by Scotrail (for which Transport Scotland is responsible) and non-franchised operators such as Network Rail, open access and charter operators. Information on the number of freight vehicles used on the network is not held by the Department.
	This information is based on latest available data but variations in the figures can be expected due to short-term vehicle hiring, introduction of new fleets and withdrawal of older vehicles and cascades.
	The locomotives shown in Table 1 were all manufactured more than 10 years ago but most have been substantially modified or re-engined since that time.
	
		
			  Table 1: Locomotives 
			  Train operating company  Class  More than 10 years old?  Number of vehicles 
			 First Great Western 43 Yes 117 
			 First Great Western 57 Yes 4 
			 Gatwick Express 73 Yes 1 
			 GNER 91 Yes 31 
			 GNER 43 Yes 32 
			 One 90 Yes 15 
			 One 86 Yes 3 
			 Midland Mainline 43 Yes 31 
			 Virgin West Coast 57 Yes 16

Roads: Construction

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much has been allocated for the construction of the proposed Bexhill to Hastings link road; and if he will make a statement.

Gillian Merron: The Bexhill to Hastings link road scheme was granted Programme Entry in December 2004 with an agreed departmental funding contribution of £47.12 million. In July 2006, we accepted the South East region's advice that the scheme was a priority for the region at an increased cost of £48.5 million. However, it has since been reported that the estimated total cost of the scheme has increased to around £89 million. As a result, the South East region will need to decide whether it still wishes to prioritise funding for this scheme at its higher cost within its regional funding allocations. Should the region formally advise that the scheme continues to be a priority, it will then be subject to a re-appraisal and value for money assessment in accordance with the Department's guidance before a final decision is taken on whether to provide additional funding for the scheme.

TREASURY

Departments: Recruitment

Mark Francois: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much his Department and its agencies paid to recruitment consultants in each year since 1997.

John Healey: With the following exceptions, the information for the Chancellor's Departments and their agencies could be provided at disproportionate cost only. Information on spending on recruitment consultancy is not held in a format whereby it can be separated out from other external management consultancy, or from the cost of agency staff. The Government Actuary's Department has provided a nil return, the Valuation Office Agency can confirm that it did not use recruitment consultants during 2006-07, and the Royal Mint and the Debt Management Office have been able to provide the following figures for recruitment consultancy fees.
	
		
			   Royal Mint  Debt Management Office 
			 1997-98 61 — 
			 1998-99 70 (1)— 
			 1999-2000 91 (1)— 
			 2000-01 89 (1)— 
			 2001-02 70 (1)— 
			 2002-03 70 57 
			 2003-04 34 22 
			 2004-05 83 29 
			 2005-06 125 99 
			 2006-07 182 69 
			 (1) Figures for years prior to 2002-03 could be provided at disproportionate cost only due to a change in accounting system in that year.

Departments: Taxis

Mark Francois: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much his Department spent on taxis in 2006-07.

John Healey: Use of a taxi at the Treasury's expense is not an entitlement and official journeys should wherever possible be made on public transport. However, when there is no reasonable and cost-effective alternative, for example when travelling home after working late into the night, the Treasury may justify the use of a taxi. Expenditure in 2006-07 was £188,000.

Mid-Essex Hospital Trust: Childbirth

Simon Burns: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many babies were born in hospitals run by the Mid-Essex Hospital Trust in each of the last 10 years.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 28 June 2007:
	As the National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your question about how many babies were born in hospitals run by Mid-Essex Hospital Trust in each of the last 10 years. (145963)
	Figures on live births in hospitals are available from birth registration information. The latest available figures by place of birth are for 2005. The attached table shows the figures requested for the years 1996 to 2005.
	
		
			  Live births in hospitals run by Mid-Essex Hospital Trust( 1) , 1996 to 2005 
			   1996  1997  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005 
			 William Julien Courtauld Hospital, Braintree 222 211 157 162 116 161 164 135 128 235 
			 St. John's Hospital, Chelmsford 3,444 3,472 3,377 3,357 3,237 3,071 3,106 3,266 3,265 3,256 
			 Broomfield Hospital, Chelmsford 0 3 2 3 1 1 5 3 1 4 
			 St. Peter's Hospital, Maldon 171 166 175 127 142 169 124 165 177 205 
			 Total Mid-Essex Hospital Trust 3,837 3,852 3,711 3,649 3,496 3,402 3,399 3,569 3,571 3,700 
			 (1) St. Michael's Hospital in Braintree and the Chelmsford and Essex Centre are also run by Mid-Essex Hospital Trust, but no live births took place in these establishments between 1996 and 2005.

Tax Allowances: Armed Forces

Bob Russell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  how many claims made by members of HM armed forces for laundry allowance while on deployments and exercises were granted in each of the last five years; and what the  (a) total value of the tax allowance and  (b) average allowance per claimant was in each of those years;
	(2)  for what reasons HM Revenue and Customs does not meet claims made by members of HM armed forces for laundry allowance while on deployments and exercises; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: HM Revenue and Customs does not hold the information requested about the number and value of claims for tax relief for laundry expenses.
	Members of the armed forces are normally entitled to free laundry facilities when on deployments and exercises. No tax relief is due in these circumstances.

Tax Rates and Bands

Nigel Waterson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment his Department has made of the long-term financial effect of  (a) reducing the basic rate of tax from 22p to 20p and  (b) abolishing the 10p lower level of tax on pensions over the next (i) 10, (ii) 20, (iii) 30, (iv) 40 and (v) 50 years.

Edward Balls: The Government do not judge there will be discernable long-term financial effect on pensions resulting from changes to income tax announced in Budget 2007. Any long-term financial effect would depend not only on the marginal rates of relief but also on the future structure of the tax system, the numbers saving for pensions and their contribution levels, the numbers in receipt of pensions and any behavioural response to the changes in rates of relief.

Taxation: Pensioners

Michael Fallon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent representations he has received on the reform of taxation for older people on low incomes; if he will commission further research on the matter; and if he will make a statement.

Edward Balls: The Government have received a number of representations on this subject following the reforms to personal taxation announced in this year's Budget. For older people, the Budget announced that the age-related income tax allowances for those aged 65 or over and 75 or over will rise by £1,180 above indexation in April 2008. By April 2011 no pensioner aged 75 or over will pay any tax until their income reaches £10,000 a year. These reforms will remove 580,000 pensioners from paying tax in April 2008.

Welfare Tax Credits: Overpayments

Norman Baker: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many instances there have been of debt caused by overpayment of tax credits being  (a) generated and  (b) subsequently cancelled, broken down by (i) constituency or (ii) nearest equivalent geographical area in the last year for which figures are available; and how much was (A) generated and (B) cancelled in each such area in the same period.

Dawn Primarolo: Statistical information relating to working tax credit and child tax credit is available at:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/personal-tax-credits/cwtc-geog-stats.htm
	Information about overpayments of tax credits, which HM Revenue and Customs decide claimants should not be asked to pay back in accordance with its Code of Practice 26, is not kept at constituency or regional level.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Pensions

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions by what means a woman whose husband reaches 65 years is advised of her right to claim a pension based on his contributions to replace the pension she is drawing based on her own contributions.

James Purnell: The Pension Service contacts customers four months before they reach state pension age to invite them to claim state pension by telephone.
	Over the phone they are asked to provide their marital status and, if appropriate, the national insurance number of their spouse. If the man is married and his wife is over state pension age and in receipt of a basic state pension based on her own contributions but which is less than the rate of pension based on her husband's contributions, a claim form is issued to her.
	If customers who wish to claim by post, they are asked to complete and return a tear-off slip from the invitation to request a claim pack. The tear-off asks men "Is your wife aged 60 or over?" If the customer ticks "yes", a claim form is also sent out to their wife.